It’s the year 2053. Wandering outside the Citadel’s safety (don’t ask where the Citadel is, how big it is, or anything else about it because you never find out) presumably spells certain death. But, as in all video games, we laugh in the face of death! Is this a journey you should undertake by ponying up some of your real-life cash and buying the game? Well, there’re some things we should discuss first.

 You Got A Friend In Me

When Vanishing Grace loads, you’ll find yourself in an evening desert scene. There’s a campfire and what appears to be a souped-up Winnebago nearby. You’ll be treated to a cut scene. It starts off whimsically enough, focusing on a little girl and a paper airplane. But soon, ominous music starts and the girl holds out her hand, asking if you trust her. You run. She tells you not to look back. Of course, you look back. Yup, running was a good idea. You make it to safety, and the little girl implores you to never leave her. It’s actually a lovely intro that starts you off with pretty high hopes.

New Apocalypse, Who Dis

You then find yourself sitting in some sort of cafe. You have a multiple choice conversation with “Elena” through a walkie-talkie. Elena is your wifey, and she is pissed. You’ve had a fight because your friend Grace has disappeared, and apparently, you’re the only one who would bother to even look for her.

It’s heavily implied that your journey will be fraught with danger, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Nor apparently, does the fact that Elena is currently preggers. Nor that your relationship was already kinda rocky, and it kinda sounds like Elena was using the child to try to save the marriage..because that always works. The conversation’s weird and uncomfortable. As a player, you don’t really walk away liking either of these people very much.

All Aboard The “Fun” Train

After you endure the super cringey conversation with Elena, the screen fades to black. From there, “Day One” starts, and you find yourself aboard a hovercraft. It’s the same one that Grace used when she left the Citadel, and that returned pilotless. You’re out in the middle of the desert with nothing but sand, rocks, and a few dead trees to keep you company. There’s a cassette tape with your name on it. Playing it gets you some exposition from the now-vanished Grace. She explains that she was sick of her government job at the Citadel and wants to live out in the barren wasteland because that is her best life.

Then, the coolest thing in the game happens. You get a boomerang! I was super excited about this. I instantly flashed to Paul Hogan, all hyped up to indulge my inner Crocodile Dundee. I threw it and watched it arc out across the vast sandy expanse. I felt inexplicably cool as it returned to my hand. It was fun, it was novel, it was something that I thought could help set this game apart from other games. 

Now, I have to pee in your cheerios.

Turns out the ONLY thing you will use this boomerang for is smashing floating blue crystal thingies that provide fuel for your hovercraft. I cannot fully express my disappointment. Breaking crystal thingies is fun initially, but it quickly becomes tedious. The boomerang arcs seem to follow some pattern, but they have nothing to do with any actual physics. There’s also no urgency to the crystal smashing. You can miss as much as you want. Your hovercraft just keeps on rolling.

I knew this was a puzzle/story-driven game. Still, I had hoped for at least some boomerang-related combat. You know, smashing some of those post-apocalyptic zombie creatures that are ubiquitous in these sort of settings (spoilers, there are no such creatures). There is absolutely no combat. Nadda. The boomerang bubble bursts pretty early, which is a damn shame because it could have been so much fun.

Cabin Fever

Your hovercraft comprises three main areas: the control area, the work area, and the living quarters. You’ll learn how to make the hovercraft go vroom-vroom and some arbitrary things that the game makes sound important but really aren’t. For instance, Vanishing Grace makes this whole big deal about you not letting your ship overheat. Yet, I purposely let that thing go all the way over into magma-colored red, and nothing happened. You can, apparently, totally neglect aspects of your ship (along with your wife and unborn child). This is another missed opportunity to make Vanishing Grace more engaging because you’re about to spend ninety percent of your time on this damn hovercraft.

You bounce back and forth between your character Joel’s and Grace’s perspective. You get off of the hovercraft three times during the game. It’s almost a blissful feeling to have some change of scenery. Again, don’t get too excited. Your time off-ship isn’t exactly exciting. You stop, gather some objects, maybe take a photograph with the in-game camera, and that’s about it. The developers missed another golden opportunity to make this game better. Put some stuff in there that we can interact with! Give us some exciting locations to explore and things to find! No, you’ll just find some objects and head back to the hovercraft…

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. 

You get more story, solve more brainless puzzles, and wonder why the hell nobody straightens the damn floor rug.

Characters Devoid Of Character

For a story-driven game, the story part isn’t incredibly gratifying. Endless Grace “confession” tapes left me rolling my eyes. Vanishing Grace is full of weird exposition and muddy philosophy, and half-baked ideas that just come off as convoluted nonsense. None of the characters are likable; all of them seem self-serving, vapid, and oblivious. The dialogue is so taxing that I quickly stopped caring where Grace might be or whether she was even alive.

Vanishing Grace also does very little to explain what the actual hell is going on with the world. What happened to turn the Earth into a barren wasteland? What is the Citadel? Are there mutant people and animals out there? Is it actually dangerous to be out and about? Because all you’ll see from your hovercraft is sand and vaguely phallic rocks and trees. If you’re not going to show us, at least tell us. Give us some more back story about this epic friendship that is worth potentially losing your marriage over. For the love of all that is holy, give us something substantive instead of half-baked tangents that have no bearing on anything.

Riddle Me This

Here’s the thing: I can overlook one lacking element in a game if the rest is good. If the characters and storyline are lackluster, then dazzle me with great puzzles. Sadly, the puzzles in Vanishing Grace run the gamut from fiddly to insultingly simple. More than once, I was stumped because I thought the solution to some puzzle couldn’t be that simple. It was.

Don’t Be Graphic

The graphics in Vanishing Grace are competent but decidedly bare-boned for much of the game. Details are blurry, especially when you try to read many of the files or notes scattered around the hovercraft or when you try to inspect non-objective related items outside of the craft. But, simplicity can be charming. Some parts of the game were rather nice to look at.

Bug Off

Vanishing Grace isn’t horribly buggy but has some issues. Usable items get stuck in your hand sometimes, things fall through surfaces, objects aren’t always immediately responsive, that sort of stuff. More annoyingly, I could not find a save option, and the auto-saves seem to happen once per in-game ‘day.’ Twice, my headset died mid-chapter, and nothing from that in-game “day” was saved. If you’re going to embark on this adventure, make sure your headset is charged up plenty before you begin. The game’s dialogue isn’t something you want to have to sit through twice.

Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right

Vanishing Grace makes me think that somebody took a mediocre short-story and decided to make a mediocre game out of it. Everything about it is middle of the road. This is unfortunate because it could have been an interesting title, but between the dull puzzles and the annoying characters, its batting average is pretty low. The drama isn’t fun or compelling; it’s just tiresome. The story will either make you want to punch whatever is closest to you or put you to sleep. I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s just say it’s…underwhelming. 

Oh, and you’ll still hate everyone.

Survey Says…

If you want a light puzzler, you’re better off with something like Down The Rabbit Hole or The Curious Case of the Stolen Pets. If you want something more cerebral, you’re better off with The Room VR: A Dark Matter, Red Matter, or Myst. Vanishing Grace is also an incredibly short game, taking less than two hours to complete. The title may be ‘Vanishing Grace,’ but it was my own ability to care that vanished somewhere on that hovercraft. 

THEY SEND YOU HERE FOR LIFE, AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT THEY TAKE

I feel my time spent playing Prison Boss VR can generally be summed up using Shawshank Redemption quotes. The one above sums things up nicely. While I didn’t quite spend a lifetime playing the game, more like 5-6ish hours before I tapped out, it seemed like eons. In fact, when you start your first day in prison, a little bubble pops up that says: “Welcome to the s*#thole!”. At first, I chuckled because I didn’t know any better. Looking back, it seems that Prison Boss VR had somehow become self-aware, and the welcome had been a warning. Its frank self-assessment was spot on because it is, indeed, a s*#thole.

I’M TELLING YOU, THESE WALLS ARE FUNNY

Prison Boss VR starts off funny enough. The tutorial has you watching some black and white “movies” via projector, which will walk you through the basics of crafting contraband smokes. There’s some kinda jazzy music playing and some quippy title cards. A character that looks very much like a potato wearing a hat will explain why the items you’ll be crafting have become illegal. He will then emphasize that even though they’ve shown you a film on exactly how to make an item, that you totally shouldn’t. “Tee-hee!” You will think to yourself, “the fuzz can’t stop me!” It’s always fun doing things you shouldn’t.

You’ll get more of these little tutorials as you progress through the game and earn new “recipes.” They’re also just about the only form of dialogue you’ll get during play. The humor in them is far from high-brow but might manage to elicit a chuckle or an amused grunt. At one point, you’ll be walked through how to make fruit juice, which you have to shake inside a bottle to produce. The tutorial reads, “Shake it like it’s a baby!”. Take that, Carlin and Chappelle! Yes, I laughed. But still, humor only gets you so far, especially when the laughs are so few and far between.

GET BUSY LIVING, OR GET BUSY DYING

Tutorial complete, you will find yourself in your cell. It’s small, dingy and the graphics aren’t remotely impressive. Prison Boss VR‘s aesthetic is decidedly cartoonish and simple, but not even charmingly so. It just looks…lazy and dated. Your cell contains a piece of furniture with a drawer, and this will be key. Soon, you’re introduced to your middle-man. At the beginning of each day, you’ll give this fellow prisoner, shaped like an egg and with no limbs, a fist-bump with your enormous white-gloved hands. Said bro-moment will then result in a window popping up. From here, you will be able to see the jobs available and the items you can purchase to make your goods to complete said jobs. Once you’ve made your selections and sales, you can activate the clock on the wall to skip the day and head to the night hours to craft.

Like with many other tycoon games, you have to be strategic. The prices of materials fluctuate. You can easily craft yourself into zero balance if you simply try to hurdle through the list of jobs. Instead, you have to find a delicate balance between completing orders to gain reputation and unlock new furniture and recipes, waiting for reasonable prices, and turning a profit off of simply trading in your completed goods for cold hard cash. Complete enough job orders and sell enough items, and you’ll eventually be presented with a large hammer to break out of your current prison. Then, it’s off to the next one. There are four prisons in total, each requiring more job orders to be filled and items to be crafted before level completion. Sound repetitive and dull? That’s because it is.

It’s also worth noting that Prison Boss VR can be somewhat confusing about how to actually complete jobs. Jobs don’t auto-complete just because you’ve done them. I spent the first five in-game days or so doggedly crafting cigarettes but then seeing no real change to the jobs page. At first, I shrugged it off and figured it was just extra repetitious for the sake of beginners. But no, to actually complete a job (and earn the rep and recipes and materials that come with it), you must check the X’s next to the jobs you’ve completed in the job list. This isn’t explained anywhere, doesn’t really make sense, and is so counter-intuitive that the tutorial should have explained it.

EVERY MAN HAS HIS BREAKING POINT

My breaking point came pretty early on in Prison Boss VR. I spent the first hour or so dropping things a lot and utterly failing at getting my illicit items hidden adequately in drawers, away from the watchful eyes of the roaming guards. I got caught and lost all my materials twice. My mounting frustration walked hand in hand with colorful language. The controls were unreliable and glitchy, and stacking objects inside drawers was a nightmare.

Once crafting hours begin, you have a pretty good chunk of time out of the gate before the guards start doing their rounds. They walk the perimeter of the floor you’re on. They shine their flashlights and make unintelligible grunting sounds that much resemble noises your passed-out uncle makes on the couch at family get-togethers. Their progress around the prison is pretty easy to track in the beginning. However, by the next prison, you are able to see less, and judging how close a guard is to your cell is much more difficult.

At first, there was a certain element of fun to the inherent sneakiness of the game. I started out using an abundance of caution, ensuring my finished products and components were hidden safely away well before detection was eminent. I wanted the money. I wanted the rep. Prison had made me greedy! I kept going until I had all the furniture and extras I could buy, even though it took me past the recommended number of days to complete the level.

Just under two hours in, I was living dangerously. I was getting better and faster at stashing my stuff but began flinging product between furniture pieces and the wall just so it was out of eye-shot. Once I was organizing my materials according to the finished product, my space was now a haphazard heap of a hoarder’s wet dream. It was like I wanted to be caught. Because I did. I was getting bored. Sure, the erotic letters were fun to craft, replete with illustrations of man-butt, rudimentary nipple-less breasts and feet (deviants!). But, the bloom was off the rose. Especially when I discovered that when you progress to the next prison, you don’t get to take anything with you. You start entirely fresh. All that hard work and surreptitiousness for naught! I felt like I’d been shanked through my criminal heart.

I HAVE TO REMIND MYSELF THAT SOME BIRDS AREN’T MEANT TO BE CAGED

Because I’m stubborn, I kept playing well past the point of boredom. Prison Boss VR‘s repetitive nature gave me an eye twitch, but I kept thinking there had to be more to this game. After a few hours in, my curiosity got the better of me, and I checked the game’s star rating on the Oculus store. I was floored and puzzled by how high it was.

I figured I was definitely missing something. Maybe the game offered day jobs that were legit. You know, stuff like potato peeling or making license plates. Then I might be able to make some extra cash, and my night gig of deviousness could be even more lucrative.

So, I sat through the game hours between when you meet your fence and when you can craft. You meet your go-between at 6am, and crafting hours start at midnight. I thought maybe something would happen. It didn’t. I sat there and counted the black lines in my white-gloved hands ( I came up with 122, but I could be wrong). I tried to play rock, paper, and scissors with the guy in the cell across from mine (he wouldn’t). I accused him of giving me the side-eye and threatened to make him my b#*ch. I watched the clock and tried to will it to move faster. I did crunches, and leg lifts in real life. I tried to grab the bars of my virtual cell and screamed “Attica!” in the realness of my living room. Boredom intensified. I wished a riot would break out. It didn’t. 

When midnight hit, the game didn’t even register that crafting hours had begun and still offered me the option to fast-forward to nighttime. I took the out and was actually time-traveled back a bit.

I’ve never been to actual prison, so I can’t say with certainty, but it almost has to be more fun than this game.

THERE’S NOT A DAY THAT GOES BY THAT I DON’T FEEL REGRET

Yes, I feel regret. I regret that I gave this game as much time as I did. Had I spent actual money on this game, my regret would have been mingled with shame. Hope can be a dangerous thing. I kept hoping for more. The initial amusement you might feel for the first half an hour to an hour or so is utterly obliterated by the repetition and lack-luster, well, everything. I know that on some level, repetition is inherent to the tycoon-style game genre, but this was taking it to new levels. It didn’t feel innovative or like it elevated the tycoon genre at all. It just felt unapologetically mediocre, with all too fleeting elements of humor peppered in there.

When I was first asked to review it, I joked I would only do it if we got to make toilet-wine in-game. Turns out you can make wine but in a sink. Lame. And that’s the word that keeps coming to me when I think of this title: lame. After a while, Prison Boss VR feels as confining as the cell it puts you in. The concept had potential. Maybe with a multi-player option, it could have been fun. Perhaps with better cosmetics for furnishings or fun vanity items. More variety on every level would have been nice.

I threw in the towel, close to having made it to the third prison, but just shy. If you wanted to, you could likely get quite a bit of playable time from this title. Besides the general gameplay advancement, there is also an “expert” style level and an arcade level where the only object is to craft as much as possible in three minutes for a high score. But, even if you could play this game for a significant amount of time, would you want to? I sure as hell didn’t. Prison Boss VR will be going straight to the trash to free up some valuable space now that my sentence is up.

If you’re going to go to prison, make sure it isn’t this one.

You’ll find much better titles on our top games list!

I’ve been playing video games for a long time. Name a genre, and I can quickly tell you a game I’ve played that falls into that category and that I have loved. I love gaming because it’s an adventure and an escape, but also because it keeps getting better. The graphics are better, the gameplay, the immersion, it all just keeps getting better.

But despite all that, I was never stirred by VR. 

VR just seemed like the next gimmick of consumerism, seeming progress that was more a step sideways than a step forward. Does anybody remember the Power Glove? Of course, you don’t. I put VR in the same category. VR didn’t look better or next level to me. It just looked different.

So, was I excited when I heard the news that there would be a Meta Quest 2? Not in the least. Yet, through a strange turn of events, here I am in possession of one. I felt, to some extent, as if I’d just been handed Excalibur. But, instead of the requisite awe that should accompany such a fabulous item, I’d simply shrugged and said, “oh, cool, a sword…”. Now, that’s not to say I wasn’t grateful and mildly intrigued. But, I wasn’t wowed by the prospect. I wasn’t beside myself with anticipation, and maybe that will lend my review more credence. I’m not a VR fan girl.

Instead, here writes a long-time gamer who was prepared to be underwhelmed with the Meta Quest 2. I’ve none of the hang-ups with the shortcomings of the original Quest because, well, I obviously never played it. I’m not here to tell you whether the Meta Quest 2 improved upon its predecessor or by how much [for that, you can check out Doc Neale’s Review – Ed.]. I’m not here to gush over the improved frame rates or how the graphics look cleaner. I am here to tell you what I discovered and how I felt within the first 24 hours of having a Meta Quest 2. Spoiler Alert: wowed, excited, and foolish (in more ways than one). In fact, from the moment I slipped on the headset and looked around my virtual “home base,” I could practically hear the deep, sonorous voice of Morpheus from The Matrix say, “She’s beginning to believe.”.  

Set Up Ain’t No Thang

With this being my first foray into the world of VR sets, I wasn’t sure how laborious the process would be to set up the Meta Quest 2. Turns out, it is actually a breeze, and the headset will prompt you along the way to keep you on task. There’s a handy little instruction booklet inside the packaging, as well. Something to note here is that you need a smartphone and a Facebook account to complete your setup. The phone also has to be relatively recent, so if you’re packing an old Nokia, you’re gonna need to finally upgrade.

Anyhow, my Meta Quest 2 arrived with a little over 50% battery charge. While you might be excited to put it on and go to town, download the phone app first. You’ll have to input some information, create a profile, and yes, you’ll have to link that profile to your Facebook account. 

Once you’re all set up on your phone, it’s time to take care of the headset side of things. Again, each step is crystal clear. Set up is pretty much as close to foolproof as it can get. The system will walk you through trying out your new controllers, adjusting your headset for vision and comfort, and there’s a safety video to watch. 

Boxing Yourself In

Once everything was set up and properly linked, I was ready to take my first test drive. This I embarked upon with a small amount of trepidation. I’ve got a kid, a very active, very inquisitive, very high-energy kid. The prospect of having my vision obscured by the headset wasn’t wholly appealing. At least when I’m gaming with more traditional platforms, I can look up from the screen and stop my child from finding new things to leap off and my dog from tearing up the carpet. So, it was with no small amount of relief that I discovered you actually could see your real surroundings while wearing the Meta Quest 2. All it takes to switch out of the VR world into the real world again, albeit a gray and grainy real world, is a double tap to the left side of the headset. A second double-tap and you’re right back in the virtual one.

Some of my fellow VR newbies might also wonder, what’s to keep you from crashing into your furniture while you’re playing? Nothing can quite stop all the fun like bashing your knees into a coffee table or knocking the wind out of yourself walking into the side of your couch. Not to worry, the Meta Quest 2 shall protect you! For starters, it has built-in sensors to help you avoid the perils of your living room.

When you’re ready to start gaming, you’ll be walked through setting up your Guardian. The Guardian takes in the space that you’re going to be playing in and essentially sets boundaries for you. You’ll be asked to mark your floor, so the sensors can adjust the set’s spatial awareness. Then, you’ll be asked to use the controllers to mark your perimeters along the floor. While you’re in a game, if you’re about to step out of the boundaries you set up, you’ll see a virtual grid wall come up. This means “slow your roll cowboy, you’re about to step out of bounds!”

While setting up my own Guardian, here’s what I discovered: bigger is better. I initially tried to set up a smaller space than the Meta Quest 2’s suggested space of 6.5″ by 6.5″. Because..kid and dog and space and toys and stuff! So, I found the biggest clear space I could in my bedroom. For many of the games and apps I would end up trying in these first 24 hours, the smaller area wasn’t necessarily a huge deal. Some of the content can even be enjoyed sitting down. But, when it came to other games like Beat Saber and the Darth Vader series, I definitely could have used that extra space for slashing. Friends on the taller side who enjoy a broad reach, take heed of my warning if you prefer your walls sans holes. Overall, make the space if you can! If you find your Guardian setup is too small, you can always reset it.

By the way, you’re also gonna feel like a drunken gibbon trying to roller-skate down an oil-slicked ice patch when you are first learning the ins and outs of your movement while gaming in VR. Both in-game and in the real world. There is a definite learning curve. Just accept the fact that you’re going to look and feel a bit ridiculous for a while. You’re going to reach out to touch things that aren’t there. You’re going to forget how to walk and move naturally. You’re going to find your hands, brain, and eyes don’t always want to coordinate and present a united front. Accept it. Anyone looking on is guaranteed to enjoy your new-found ineptitude at coordination, even if you don’t.

 The Library

I was pleased to find there was more content available than I had anticipated. Even cooler was the fact that it wasn’t entirely games. There was plenty of other interesting fodder. Ever want to see a Cirque du Soleil show but have somehow never quite managed to? Well, there was an app for that. Want to travel the world without leaving the couch? There are apps for that, too. You can blast off and float around the International Space Station. You can even dive into the ocean and interact with sea creatures, learning some fun facts along the way.

When it comes to the Meta Quest 2, all sorts of nerdery can be engaged in through the games and apps. You can try floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee with Creed: Rise to Glory. Or try your hand at a spot of free climbing in some genuinely breathtaking surroundings in The Climb. You can finally get that elusive turkey in Premium Bowling or chase them birdies in Walkabout Mini Golf. More of an armchair sports fan? Both MLB and ESPN have apps.

Zombie groupies and horror aficionados will find their genre of choice well-represented. After a brief dance with The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, I was left feeling both impressed and rather badass. The graphics are good, and the game’s ambiance has a way of blurring the line between the real and the imaginary. I could actually feel my adrenaline pumping as I stalked virtual zombies through a cemetery with a rusted shiv in hand. Zombies aren’t your bag? There are also tons of other horror genre games, including The Exorcist, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted, and an upcoming Blair Witch game.   

Fantasy and adventure geeks are also going to be happy campers. In Death: Unchained stole my heart with its lushly medieval-themed trip through Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. You may have never gotten your official letter from Hogwarts, but you can try your hand at casting spells in Waltz of the Wizard. Also not to be missed is Moss, which I haven’t gotten to play nearly enough of, but is both gorgeous and adorable.

There are first-person shooters and samurai simulators. You can do magic with Penn and Teller. You may not be Picasso, but you can still create art. You can paint with Tilt Brush. You can de-stress with a spot of coloring in Color Space. You can even put on some “Unchained Melody” and have your very own Ghost moment with Let’s Create! Pottery VR (sadly, no Patrick Swayze included).

There’s also no longer a need to pick your side: Star Wars and Star Trek coexist peacefully in the realm of the Meta Quest 2. You can step aboard the bridge and hope you’re not a redshirt in Star Trek: Bridge Crew. You can meet Darth Vader and wield a lightsaber in any of the three Vader Immortal games. I’ve only had the pleasure of playing the first game in the series, but some part of me transcended to a higher plane for a moment when I stood in front of VR Darth Vader for the first time.

Are you sad that you can’t get to the gym because it’s still too COVID-y out? You can still get your swell on in VR; there are plenty of exercise-related offerings. Dance off dessert with Dance Central. Nobody can see your two left feet in VR! Have your moment of zen with Guided Tai Chi. If you like your workout with a healthy dose of competition, join a workout for any and all fitness levels and claw your way up the calorie-burning leaderboards in FitXR. We know you might miss wiping down the machines and that weird guy who grunts with every rep in your real gym, but you’ll manage.

What I’m trying to say is, there is literally something for everyone. You will find something you want to try. In fact, you’ll probably find several somethings. I browsed the entire library and discovered some real gems lurking beyond the headliners, so take your time and look around.

Games also don’t take eons to download, as they are generally smaller in size than most on PC and traditional consoles. This is nice since the one game nobody likes playing is the waiting game.

General Set Comfort

Overall, the Meta Quest 2 is reasonably comfortable to wear for short periods. I consider this both a pro and a con. Pro because it could definitely be worse, and it ensures I won’t play for hours at a time. Con, because who likes discomfort?

The Meta Quest 2 decidedly takes some getting used to. Beyond just the general feeling of disorientation you get when you first put it on, there’s finding the right “fit.” The straps adjust, but this can take some serious fiddling around to find the least obtrusive feel. Even when it seems like you’ve finally achieved optimal comfort, there’s still your view quality to be considered. You have to make the visuals clear and ensure the darn headset doesn’t go tumbling from your noggin mid-game.

All in all, you learn to acclimate to the feel. Though, you might be tempted to reach up and readjust the fit somewhat frequently throughout your play. There’s always this lingering feeling like the headset could fit better. There are optional and more comfortable head straps available, but they do cost extra. Also, do be aware that you might notice some redness along your forehead (and where the set rests on the tops of your cheeks..) immediately after taking it off. Just be warned in case you have to directly go out in public after.

How I Physically Responded To VR

There is another reason I’d previously steered clear of VR. My body does not seem to like it. Any simulation ride I’ve ever been on has been immediately followed by a severe case of lingering nausea. I also tend to get dizzy. Decidedly not fun. The prospect of experiencing the same unpleasant sensations with a VR system definitely was a concern for me.

When it came to feeling queasy, I experienced some of that, especially at the very start. Same with dizziness. Certain games were more prone to induce tummy twinges, and minor head swims, but on the whole, it wasn’t really an issue. Where I did have a problem was headaches. And I wasn’t the only one. After I’d done a fair share of scoping things out and headed to bed for the night, my husband got to check out the system. I asked him how it went this morning, and he too mentioned the headaches. My advice is, when you first feel it coming on, stop, and walk away for a bit. If you do, the headache will stay mild and go away pretty quickly. If you try to push through it, cuz “mama didn’t raise no quitter!” it will be a lot more intense and last much longer when you finally do take a break.

It will be interesting to see if this is an issue that improves over time. Our being new to VR might be, in large part, responsible for the headaches. Perhaps it’s just our eyes, bodies, and brains trying to adjust and make sense of this new “environment.” Maybe it’s your eyes working overtime to focus and shift with changing light and surrounding patterns. With a battery life of about 2 hours, it isn’t as if we could point to excessively long gaming sessions as the reason.

[Editor’s Note: To be fair, most of our VR-Veteran reviewers don’t really experience headaches, and some users have found that headaches can be a result of the straps being too tight, their necks not being used to the weight of a headset, the lenses set at the wrong distance for your eyes, etc..]

One thing is certain: when you’re done using it, you’re done. Either the battery or your body will let you know precisely when that is.

She Sure Is Pretty Though

There is no denying that the Meta Quest 2 delivers eye candy when it comes to its content. Most of my first hour with the set was accompanied by enough swear words and “oohs” and “ahhs” to concern any decent bystander. Sometimes I would try to explain what I was seeing to my kiddo or my husband, and words would inevitably fail me. I tried to cast my play to the TV, so they might get a general idea of what I was seeing. But, this was imperfect, and I usually just ended up handing over the set for a moment so that they could put it on and see for themselves. There’s no getting around it; what you see through that headset is impressive. No video or stream is ever going to come remotely close to giving you a decent idea of what it is really like to put on that set and play.

The colors, the images, and the crispness of certain content are just unreal. It’s easy to get swept away in the details. I watched some Cirque du Soleil, and I couldn’t get over how I could see every nuance of a performer’s costume, every muscle tense of the acrobats. I even reached out to touch things a few times. It was so intense, the illusion so complete, that I swore I could almost feel the heat coming from a fire handler’s apparatus.

I sampled games from different genres. I tested games with different artistic feels. While there were some definite standouts in terms of quality, I didn’t really find a dud in the 15 or so apps and games I managed to test in my first 24 hours. That’s not to say they’re not out there; I just haven’t managed to find them yet. Everything I tried offered something unique. Each game and app I explored was incredibly easy to navigate and quite fluid. I did a lot of mouth-breathing.

Mastering the controls is pretty easy as well. Sometimes maneuvering about in-game, while still standing within your preset boundaries, can be difficult. I discovered I really suck at picking objects up in VR, for instance. Most games do an excellent job of walking you through precisely which buttons do what and how to fix your view should it get skewed during gameplay. The controllers themselves are remarkably lightweight, which I found to be a boon in some games, and somewhat of a drawback for others. In some cases, you can even ditch your controllers altogether and use your hands to navigate. I mean, who hasn’t wanted to channel their inner Tony Stark since the first Ironman movie? Voice commands are also an option, allowing you to launch games, control the volume, and a few other things just by speaking.

So, Have I Been Lured To The Dark Side?

Why yes, yes, I have. The Meta Quest 2 is a gorgeous system. This really is some next-level stuff unless you compare it to far more expensive (and complicated) options like the Valve Index. If this is as close as we can come to being in a video game so far, it’s an excellent step. It will impress you, even against your will. I wasn’t determined to nay-say, but I wasn’t going to be surprised if I discovered it really wasn’t for me in the end.

Also, you really can’t beat the price. The 64-gig system is retailing for just under $300. That may not be a drop in the bucket, but consider that price against other gaming consoles. Games and apps are typically markedly cheaper as well. It is true, there are fewer titles available than other gaming consoles. It’s also true that some of the games and apps are a little short on playable time and/or have little to no replayability. Yet, you still somehow don’t feel cheated in the least. The experience is that unique, that good. It’s difficult to really express the “fullness” of it until you actually see it for yourself.

Even with all that being said, I feel I’ve got to be completely honest here. While I am wowed, and my mind is officially blown, I don’t see the Meta Quest 2 becoming my go-to choice when it comes to gaming. It is incredibly fun in spurts. It’s brilliant, in moderation. This is not the system you go to when you want to settle in for a hardcore gaming session. This is the system you go to when you genuinely want to escape for a bit. When you really want to be “in” the game. This is not going to replace your PlayStation, your Xbox, or your gaming computer. But, it’s not meant to. And it would be unfair to judge the Meta Quest 2 on its ability, or inability, to be a replacement for those. It’s something unto itself.

Not gonna lie; I’ve been pretty tired of looking at the same walls for the majority of these past months since the pandemic hit. And maybe that’s part of the charm; the escapism. The VR surroundings are both familiar and brand new, synthetic, yet somehow real. With the Meta Quest 2, you really can feel like you’re in a different world. No matter which game or app you step into, the change of scenery is more than welcome right now.

Maybe it’s good that the Meta Quest 2 is best in small spurts. Fantasy is meant to be fleeting, lest we lose the ability to tell the difference between it and reality. Yet, I can guarantee that you’ll be finding your way back to Narnia again not long after you close that wardrobe door for the first time. It’s that fun to go down this rabbit hole. Try it. If you haven’t yet experienced VR, you’ve got to see this for yourself.

Attack Of The 50 Foot Anime

When you first jump into the game, you’re greeted by a giant floating image of Miss Hatsune herself. You find yourself in some sort of futuristic room with a pretty static (yet huge) image of the turquoise-haired starlet looming large before you. From here, you can navigate around. There’s an option for a tutorial, a concert mode, leaderboards, and of course, the actual gameplay. Always one to come prepared, I dipped into the tutorial first.

The tutorial is pretty straightforward. If you’ve played any of these types of games previously, it’s not entirely necessary. There are speakers which produce musical notes; you have to use your fairy wands (because Japanese pop star, so natch) to hit the notes as they come flying at you. No timed trigger pulls or real directional pitfalls to contend with. The end. Simple enough.

That out of the way, I wanted to get into the meat of the game. When you’re ready to play, you’ll find 10 unlocked songs available for you to conquer. You can also choose from two difficulties: normal and hard. Hatsune Miku VR allows you to choose between two costumes of Hatsune to wear and two different style wands. One set looks like a typical fairy wand, replete with a star on top – the other looks like spring onions. I went with the onions because nothing quite shouts Pop Star like green onions.

Assuming there was some difficulty curve along the 10 unlocked stages available, I started at 1. Well, you know what they say about making assumptions, right?

“Were You Listening To Me, Neo?”

“Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?” Okay, Morpheus, you got me. When stage 1 opens up, a 3D 16-year-old anime-style school girl prances out onto the virtual stage in her schoolgirl uniform. She immediately turns her back to you, and the “performance” begins with a bit of light hip-and-rump shaking. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if I should be playing a game or throwing dollar bills at her. But, I didn’t have long to wonder because soon, the colorful speakers floating in the air behind her started to pump out colorful music notes. The notes needed my attention, begone jailbait!

The mechanics here are straightforward. You just hold out your wand and touch every note that comes your way. Every note you manage to touch contributes to your “fever” bar (cowbell not included). Fill up your fever bar, and you can initiate a type of bonus round. The old stage will disappear, and then you’ll be transported to a dark stage where Hatsune will dance and sing on a light-up dance floor. It’s very Saturday Night Fever. If you miss a note in normal mode, you will lose your progress on your fever meter. But in this stage, missing some musical notes doesn’t matter, and each note and combo successfully hit gives you more points than usual.

I slogged through as best I could, finding my annoyance with Hatsune growing with every note. I found myself growling over and over, “Could you just….move! You make a better door than a window, Hatsune! OMG! Get. Out. Of. The. Way!”.

I did not want to be on Hatsune’s stage. Why did she have to be right in front of you? Couldn’t they have put her off to the side somewhere? Here she was, winking, prancing and twirling and flipping her hair coquettishly all over the place and obscuring the notes so that I couldn’t even see some of them until it was too late. Sayonara high score and combo streak! “Shhh,” Hatsune seemed to say. “Your high score be damned, mortal. WATCH MEEEEEEE!”

Despite doing my best to ignore Hatsune’s incessant struts, my eyes would inevitably catch her movements just long enough to break my focus. It’s beyond annoying, and it will plague you the entire game. In a later stage that was actually a lot more challenging than the first one, she ruined an over 400-note streak I had by blocking my view. Then, I kid you not, she blew a kiss over her shoulder and winked at me. If you could give the middle finger in VR in this game, I would have. Instead, I was just left impotently flipping off my living room.

At the end of each round, you’ll wait for your result with Hatsune. You’ll see a listing of your notes, combos, score, and you’ll get a grade. The highest I ever got was an “SS”; the lowest was a “C.” Get a good enough score, and you’ll hear the crowd cheer and clap. Give a mediocre to poor performance, and you’ll get booed. On some levels, even a “B” will get you booed. The crowd is fickle, Hatsune, but we can’t let them destroy our spirit!

New Quest, Who Dis?

After the perplexing and underwhelming first round, I needed answers. Who the heck was this Hatsune Miku? Was I supposed to know her? Was she really world-famous like the game description said? Was her popularity supposed to be the main draw in what was shaping up to be a decidedly mediocre game? So, I did some digging. Turns out our heroine (or more aptly, villain) has her very own Wiki page!

Here’s the dirt. Apparently, Hatsune Miku is a “Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media” way back in 2007. Hatsune gets her voice from Saki Furita, a Japanese voice actress the developers used as a model.

Now here’s where things get bonkers. In Japan, Hatsune has been marketed as a “virtual idol.” She’s even been used to hold actual concerts where she appears on stage in all her animated projection glory. When translated, her name means “the first sound of the future.” She’s apparently so big in Japan that she has appeared in multiple anime shows and movies, on the sides of official race cars, and in other video games. According to Crypton, she had over 100,000 original songs to her name by 2011.

Not impressed yet? Well, she was even announced as a performer for Coachella 2020. But, the pandemic ruined Hatsune’s electric dreams there when Coachella was canceled. Here’s to hoping Lil Sebastian can headline next year.

Worst Concert Ever!

Curiosity satisfied, I dove back into the game. I was hoping I might enjoy it more the further in I got. That didn’t happen. I tried every level, on both difficulty settings, some multiple times. To be blunt, Hatsune Miku VR is just incredibly lackluster. The backgrounds and backdrops are pretty bland. They’re poorly rendered, and there’s no real “wow” factor to any of them. They’re just not that interesting to look at. Even Hatsune herself isn’t that well “finished.” Once the initial novelty of having her there wears off, and you have the chance to really “look” at her, there are some glaring holes and glitches in her rendering. This is especially true if you go into concert mode and fiddle around with your placement on the stage to look at her from different angles.

Then there’s the disappointment that is actual gameplay. As far as I can tell, there’s no real purpose to the notes being different colors other than to make the overall game more colorful. You don’t seem to get any more points for gold notes than green ones, for example. The game feels very repetitious quite early on, especially since the notes seem weirdly “timed” with the music. Very rarely did anything seem to actually sync. There were several instances where I thought a song was over, only to have it start up again. The erratic, unpredictable music makes the game as a whole feel erratic and unpredictable. While you could look at that as a way in which the game is naturally more challenging than maybe some others in the genre, I just found it flat out irksome.

As I mentioned earlier, progress in Hatsune Miku VR isn’t linear, either. There is no rise in difficulty; it’s all just…there. Stage 1 was easier than most. But stage 10, which you might naturally think was the big finale, was incredibly short and simple. I actually found stages 5 and 7 more difficult.

Even though Hatsune Miku VR touts itself as a dance game, other than my arms, I felt much more stationary in this game than in others. Yes, there were times when my arms were moving in a flurry, and I swore only an octopus would be able to hit all those notes. But, other than your arms, you’re pretty much just standing there. The hard mode does introduce bombs, which can shatter your streak if you don’t dodge them. At my most “active,” I felt as though I were doing some kind of ribbon exercise in gymnastics, but without all the leaping around. In comparison, in titles like Beat Saber and Audio Trip, I could feel my heart pumping and knew I was getting in a bit of exercise. In Hatsune Miku VR, I just felt my blood pressure rising because little miss “Look At Meeeee” wouldn’t get the hell out of the way.

One thing that makes Hatsune Miku VR a bit different is that you can’t fail out of a stage. I tried. I stood there purposely with my hands behind my back the entire time and nadda. I even managed to score a few points somehow, go figure.

Sadly though, I really can’t say much that’s positive about Hatsune Miku VR. It’s not innovative. It’s not beautiful. There’s no real sense of progression, and even though the music changes, it somehow still ends up feeling cloyingly repetitious. Poor Lil Hatsune herself ends up feeling more like an annoying fly rather than a technological marvel.

Unless you’re a hardcore anime fan or Hatsune Miku fan, in particular, I can’t recommend this game. It’s so generally “blah” that I don’t really feel the need to revisit it in the future. Sure, I could go back and try to top my scores. I simply… don’t want to. This is odd for me because I usually border on obsessive when it comes to getting that highest rank possible. But I didn’t find this game fun, and there are too many other options for Quest games that ARE fun. This game functions, there are no insane bugs or weird glitches, and that’s about the most I can say it has going for it.

At just under 25 bucks, it’s simply not worth it. Nor are the various DLC packs, which will charge you another $11.99 for 5 additional songs. The only exception here I can see is that maybe Hatsune Miku VR is a game for kids who are into anime or want to play a dance/music game that’s more relaxed. If they’ve tried other games and got frustrated with failing out as the content got more demanding, Hatsune Miku VR could be an option for them, as failing out is simply impossible.

The real shame is, the concept could have been great. Watching a top performer do their thing while you do yours in a VR world which provides limitless possibilities could be beyond cool. But that isn’t what happens here, not even close. Save your money. This is one concert you won’t mind missing. Sorry, Hatsune. Good luck with your career..at least you never age.